As a physician's assistant, Michael Brown's job is to make patients feel better.

"I was not my carefree-self and telling jokes like I normally do," he said.

Brown was in a lot of pain, and it was no laughing matter.

He said, "It's almost like the worst charley horse you've ever had in your life."

Brown said the constant pain went from his back down his legs to his feet.

He said, "It came to be that is was something called spinal stenosis."

Spinal stenosis is a narrowing of the spinal canal in the lower back. It usually happens as we age. This narrowing can squeeze and irritate the nerves that branch out from the spinal cord and cause back pain, leg pain, weakness and a loss of balance.

The only relief from the pain comes from bending over and opening up the canals the nerves go through. The only surgical option to relieve the pain used to be a laminectomy, where some of the bone and ligament were removed.

This is a more invasive surgery, and takes weeks of recovery. In 2005, the FDA approved the X-Stop for patients with moderate spinal stenosis.

"Through a 20-minute surgical procedure, we put it in and we can dilate the space," said URMC Neurosurgeon Dr. Jason Schwalb. "And there are various sizes of this device to wedge in there and it acts as a jack to keep those canals open."

Seventy-percent of patients like Michael Brown had significant relief from the X-Stop a year or more after the procedure.

"I don't have any problems with sitting, and I wouldn't be sitting here talking with you this long if I was having a problem," he said.

Brown said the X-Stop has been a huge relief, and that is something he can smile about.